6.

today my sweet little angel turns 6. yes, 6! is it just me or are these boys growing at a ridiculously fast rate? i hate it. alas, cooper is 6. and he truly is a delight. he is the most brilliant child i know. the kid knows everything about everything & can never learn enough. his current interests are natural disasters & the solar system. when tropical storm flossie struck he was the only person on the island dissapointed there wasn't more damage. he is also the only person anxiously awaiting a tsunami. not that he wants people to get hurt or buildings to be destroyed he just wants to watch such an awe-striking phenommenon. he is incredibly athletic. he has his dad's natural ability. he is very analytical & studies his dad & other athletes to learn the best way to play. he also has a ridiculous amount of body control. the child can master skills & techniques way beyond his age. he is creative, imaginitive, & curious. he is fun & wild. the kid has more energy than a heard of buffalo. poor coop, has had a rough year. although he absolutely loves life in hawaii he has had a rough time transitioning. he is a child of structure. he thrives off of routine. and our life is anything but predictable. he misses our california home, & his toys, & his cousins, & his friends, & his routine. but he is starting to come around. he's made friends that aren't going to move back to the mainland in the next 6 weeks & he's starting at a new school just seconds away from our home. he loves the ocean, in fact, he's addicted. he can't go within 50 feet of the water without jumping in. he is a natural on a surfboard & a body board. he swims like a fish. he loves hiking. he wants to explore every inch of this heavenly island. he is just everything we could hope for & more. we love this little boy with all hearts & souls. we are so very blessed to have him as the eldest & biggest examples for his little brothers. they admire him & look up to him in every way. we all do. cooper you are my sonshine.

Birthdays are a big deal in the Watkins house. My little planner detailed his birthday celebration weeks ago. There will be German pancakes, blueberries & coconut, Taco Bell, Tastey Crust, the Ocean Center, mini golf, beach, brownies, & body boarding. Now that's a party. 

1.  cooper's best friend: mylo 

2.  cooper's name: cooper j watkins

3.  cooper prefers to go by: coop 

4.  cooper's favorite animals: megaladon 

5.  what does cooper want to be when he grows up: scientist

6.  cooper's favorite movie: how to train your dragons

7.  cooper's favorite song: anything with a beat 

7.  what makes cooper happy? when we go to the donut store anything with a beat

8.  what makes cooper sad? when we go shopping 

9.  cooper's favorite food: toast with no crusts & butter & papaya & coconut milk

10.  cooper's favorite place: miniature golfing place

11.  cooper's favorite color: green 

11.  cooper's favorite game: mancala

12.  cooper's #1 wish right now: to trap a leprachaun & get his pot of gold & to prove 100% to all the world that megaladons still live in these waters

12.  mommy's favorite cooper quotes of late: "mommy, i need to tell you something. but i'm a little bit nervous. you look very pretty. you are the most specialist mommy ever," while we were on a mommy-son date. "why would i be scared to go in the ocean with a megaladon? it can't kill me any worst than a great white shark or a tiger shark."

i guess it's time i finally get around to writing down my first birth story. you know, before i forget those little details. it was the day of my due date & i was at my parents' house in yuba city & todd was at training camp in arizona. we were planning to induce labor the following day after todd's preseason game so he could be there for the event. cooper had a different plan in mind. at about 4:00 in the afternoon i started to feel contractions. since this was my first labor & i was pretty dang scared i opted to go to the hospital at the first sign of consistent contractions (about 5:30pm). they were hesitant to check me in considering i was still only a 3cm (i was a 3 when i went to the doctor 2 days prior). but they did. i was having contractions, but they really weren't bad. more than anything, i was scared. i had no idea what to expect & todd was still in arizona so i'd be embarking on this adventure alone (or so i thought). i was able to get the epidural relatively early-i was dialated to about 4cm-at around 7:00pm. my heart rate instantly plummeted. i nearly fainted but my mom caught me & kept me from falling. the nurses were worried, so was i. fortunately, after a few minutes it passed (the same thing happened with my next two epidurals-not fun). i spent the next few hours with a nearly perfect epidural masking all my pain but a small quarter-sized patch in my lower abdomen; just big enough to remind me that i was in active labor & to give me an accurate idea of how fast the labor was progressing. the doctor broke my water a few hours later to speed things up a bit. my mom was by my side from the beginning. a few hours into labor my sister amanda showed up. then a few hours later my sisters stephanie & alyssa made it (they drove from the bay area & utah in a rush to make it to the hospital in time). they made my night. we stayed up the whole night talking story & laughing hysterically (between contractions). it was the most fun anyone has ever had in a hospital room in the history of ever. i was shocked when the nurse checked me at 5:00am & announced it was time to push. i was instantly terrified. this was the moment. i was no supposed to introduce a child into the world. and i had no clue what to do. i was so overwhelmingly grateful at that moment to have the 4 women i most adore in all the world by my side. they held my hands, they wiped the sweat from my brow, & they encouraged me through the 47 minutes of pushing. (i will always be grateful to them for the compassion & love they showed to me in one of the scarriest situations i've ever encountered.) then all the pain & fear was forgotten when i looked down & saw the most beautiful being my eyes have ever seen. he was perfect. i'll never forget his black eyes (you couldn't tell his pupil from his iris), & his big lips. i kissed him again, & again. right then i knew that everything would be ok. i knew that my whole purpose in life was right there in my arms. in that moment everything in my life made sense. and i never ever wanted to let go of him. we spent the day snuggling & enjoying the company of all our loved ones. that night (after his preseason game) todd flew in to sacramento. he made it to the airport at about 10:30pm. he walked into the hospital room & reached for his first born. and he held him the rest of the night. he slept with that little baby laying on his chest & let me hold him when it was time to eat. after adoring that beautiful bundle for nearly 24 hours i was anxious to get home & truly rest. but first, we had to name him. we'd tossed around three names-cooper, tj, & mylo-all night. but we just couldn't decide on one. after much debate we finally decided that cooper was the perfect fit for this little boy. so we signed the documents & we took our cooper j watkins home.